PRESS RELEASE
January 27, 2010

“Government is the country’s food seller of last resort. GMA, you better do something about the sugar crisis.” This was the statement of Terry Ridon, National Chairperson of the League of Filipino Students, as the LFS criticized the Sugar Regulatory Administration for washing its hands over the continuing increases in sugar prices.

Ridon said that Malacanang could order the National Food Authority to do a repeat of its response during the rice crisis of 2008, where the NFA had supplied the public with subsidized rice.

“But by NFA intervention, we do not mean that they provide the public with substandard foodstuffs, like what they did during the rice crisis. They supplied us with rice for cattle, not for human consumption. We demand cheap, affordable sugar of acceptable quality.”

The LFS also took exception at the defeatist attitude of SRA administrators in the face of growing public weariness over mounting sugar prices.

“For the SRA to surrender sugar prices to market forces is to surrender its regulatory powers, unless the SRA had been held hostage by sugar planters from the very start.” Ridon said.

Ridon added that the purpose of regulation is to protect the public from unscrupulous fluctuations in market prices, and to stall sugar exports in the event of supply problems in the domestic market.

“The data on sugar supply is clear – our country produces an abundance of sugar, but most of our production had been earmarked for the international market, where our greedy sugar planters would make most profits. All these to the detriment of our small-time bakers and millions of households.”

Ridon said that the data is proof enough that it is government that had been amiss in performing its regulatory functions, and now washes its hands off the brewing problem.

The LFS vowed to take action in the coming days to pressure government to act decisively on the sugar crisis.